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PlayingFallout Shelteris a great way to enjoy the lore of Fallout without a long-term commitment. Whether you play on a mobile device, console, or PC, there are plenty of tips and tricks to make the most of your time in the wasteland and grow a successful Vault as the overseer.
From what rooms to build to how many Dwellers to send into the wasteland, there are several ways to optimize your experience with Fallout Shelter. We’ve compiled a guide with the best practices when playing so that your Vault will thrive. It takes a bit of practice, but we’re here to help!
Updated July 19, 2025 by Zoë J. Osik:We’ve updated our guide to include more Fallout Shelter mobile game tips and tricks, so your Vault can thrive. Don’t neglect your Dwellers, overseer! They need you now more than ever, and we’ll help you keep them happy and SPECIAL.
Start Out Slow
The biggest problem you’ll have isexpanding too quickly. It’s exciting tounlock new roomsand have access to new tools to make your Vault even better, but building too quickly can lead to devastating consequences.
Tobuild new rooms, you’ll need to have more Dwellers, and without a balance in your resources, you’ll quickly see power, food, and water dropping. Rather thanstruggle to keep up, build your Vaultone room at a time and upgradeas needed.
Invest In Crafting
You’ll unlock different workshops, like theWeapon, Outfit, and Theme Workshops. These rooms are expensive, but allow you tocraft new itemsfor your Dwellers to use.
Some weapons and outfits can only be obtained through crafting!
It takes time and resources, but it’s a great way touse junk in Fallout Shelter. you may free up space andget better gearfor your Dwellers, which will help themdefend the Vault and explore the wasteland.
Send Dwellers To Explore
Dwellers can go into the wasteland tofind junk, weapons, outfits,and more. It will take time, but it’s worth the wait to have them come back with their armsfull of items and bottle caps.
It’s dangerous, so make sure they have thebest SPECIAL statsand good weapons before heading out. you may alsocheck on themto ensure they haven’t died. If they have, you’ll either have topermanently remove them from the Vaultor spend precious bottle caps to revive them.
You can’t revive dead Dwellerson Survival Mode.
Rush Your Rooms
If you’re short on resources, you canRush the roomto get more. The downside is that there’s achance for an incidentto occur, but if the odds are low, it’sworth the risk.
A Rush canprevent you from having the power go out, starving, or having to deal with radiation in your Vault. You can have several successful Rushes in a row, just be warned that with each one, the odds of an incident increase.
Complete Objectives
Objectives are like guideposts to help youimprove your Vault. you may earnbottle caps, Nuka Cola Quantum, Lunchboxes, and Pet Carriers, which will help you strengthen your Vault and add unique bonuses.
You canremove one objective a day for free, but the rest will cost you. It’s worth removing any that you can’t complete, whether you’re not able to give up extra weapons or you don’t want to risk Radscorpion attacks just for a reward.
Train Your Dwellers
The beginning Dwellers you encounter will have low SPECIAL stats. Thankfully, they don’t have to stay useless for long. You can build training rooms to helpincrease SPECIAL statsover time.
Improving stats will help theDwellers become more efficient. If yourDwellers have babies, these stats can be inherited. Build a Vault filled with SPECIAL Dwellers to have a (somewhat) pleasant time in the wasteland. You cansupplement stats with gear, but it’s better to have those stats as permanent traits.
Find The Mysterious Stranger
If you hear amischievous piano riff, stop what you’re doing immediately. Start looking around forthe Mysterious Stranger. He wears a fedora and a trench coat. If you find him, grab him!
Catching him rewards you with arandom sum of bottle caps. We’ve managed to getover 3,000 bottle capsin one go, though he sometimes gives as few at 98.
Go On Quests
Once youunlock the Overseer’s Office, you may send Dwellers out on quests. These will take time, but you canactively take a rolein your Dwellers' lives and have themseek out more bottle caps and rewardsin the wasteland.
Make sure to prepare your Dwellers with good weapons and gear so that they can survive. That also means sending them withStimpaks and RadAwaysto ensure they live through the encounter and come home safely.
Prepare For The Worst
No matter how hard you try,incidents will happen. It’s important toarm your Dwellers, upgrade your Vault Door,and keep a steadysupply of Stimpaks and RadAwayson hand. An incident will make a bad situation worse – and it’s not a matter of if, but when.
Your production will be interrupted, and you’ll need toRush rooms to get back on track. Don’t panic, take a deep breath, and try to prepare for the next one.
Keep Dwellers Happy
Above all,keep your Dwellers happy. Increasing Dweller happiness makes them more efficient,which increases productivity. Make sure they are healthy, in a good environment, and have plenty of resources.
If someone looks like they are in a bad mood,assign them to the Living Quartersso they can talk with someone and take a break. Dwellers need time to unwind andremove themselves from stressfull situations, so be mindful of your Dwellers' moods to keep your Vault on track.
Breed Better Dwellers
If you really want to make your Vault efficient, you’ll want tobreed better Dwellers. This means carefully training and selecting parents to create only the best children.
While you can train your Dwellers individually, it takes time. It’s must better tohave Vault Dwellers born giftedthan to special precious resources training them. Finding rare Dwellers that already have high stats is even better and will save you time as well!
